Maya Watanabe

Maya Watanabe’s Zhùr explores mortality and permanence. The video features a recently discovered wolf puppy that was frozen intact for 57,000 years. For millennia, the Arctic was so cold that many plants and animals that died there froze before they rotted. These remains were then buried by snowfall, ice, and minerals, creating what we called “permafrost,” so named because it was believed that this sediment would remain frozen forever. Instead, warmer Arctic temperatures are now thawing the permafrost, uncovering preserved beings and causing them to decompose. Carbon that had been stored for centuries is now escaping into our atmosphere. The prehistoric creature at the center of Watanabe’s work is a testament to a lost era, symbolizing the layered intersections of time—from its ancient existence to its contemporary rediscovery. Zhùr serves as a stark reminder of both past life and the looming threats of climate change-induced extinction.